"Our Redeemer's gift of touch provides healing connection and can warm even the coldest heart." (Lisa Harper, Stumbling Into Grace)
As we read the gospels and read of Jesus' miracles of healing, we see that over and over, He healed people with a touch. Je could have just spoken a word and healed them, but He chose to touch them instead.
- Mark 1:41 - Jesus touched the man with leprosy to heal him.
- Mark 5:41 - Jesus raises a little girl from the dead by taking her hand.
- Mark 6:5 - Jesus laid hands on sick people and healed them.
- Mark 7:33 - Jesus healed a deaf and mute man by touching him.
- Mark 8:22-26 - Jesus healed a blind man by touching his eyes.
- Mark 9:27 - Jesus sets someone back in his feet after driving out an evil spirit by taking his hand.
These are just the miracles of Jesus's touch that Mark recorded when he wrote his gospel.
In a culture where people who were sick were considered unclean and no one else would have touched them, Jesus chose to use touch to bring healing and restoration to these people. Jesus knew the power that touch could have.
I sometimes wonder if that touch from Jesus was more important to the people He healed than the actual healing itself. For some of them I wonder how long it had been since someone touched them. Based on the religious laws of the day, I would guess that it had been years for some of them.
I believe that Jesus still touches people today. He knows that a touch is important to our healing, so He uses other people in our lives for that.
A hug from a friend.
A hand on our shoulder.
These things may not bring an actual physical healing the way Jesus' touch did in Scripture, but they can still bring healing and encouragement in other aspects of our lives.
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